


The ‘Perfect’ Christmas

by aslytherinthatexists13



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: And snow, F/M, James is bad at making cookies, and Sirius is even worse at giving baking advice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:34:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28264743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aslytherinthatexists13/pseuds/aslytherinthatexists13
Summary: James wants to give Lily the perfect Christmas but he keeps messing things up.Written for the Potterverse gift exchange for @thepoetrystudent. Sorry if it sucks.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4
Collections: Potterverse Gift Exchange





	The ‘Perfect’ Christmas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Thepoetrystudent](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thepoetrystudent/gifts).



James knew that this year it had to be perfect. It was their second Christmas together since they had been married. Last year they had gone to James’ parents house since his parents were very ill with dragon pox and James had wanted to be with them a little more before they died. This year James wanted to spend Christmas with just Lily since the first year they didn’t get that luxury. So he made sure to decorated the house perfectly, do his best to find her a great gift, and now he was in the kitchen trying to bake cookies.

James looked down at the cook book. One tbs of vanilla extract? What the heck is a tbs? James continued rifling through the cupboard looking for what ever a tbs was. He’d at least managed to find vanilla extract and was glad the bottle had been clearly labeled since he had been quite close to adding vanilla creamer since it sounded like something made out of vanilla extract.

“James!” he heard a voice that was definitely not Lily yell from the other room. Slamming the cabinet door he raced into the the living room and found Sirius standing there wearing Santa hat and the ugliest Christmas sweater James had ever seen, he also held two poorly wrapped packages in his arms. “There you are! Where’s Lily? And why do you have flour all over your shirt?”

“Hey Pads nice to see you too. Lily wanted to go to her parents house and visit them this morning so that we could spend Christmas Eve and all of Christmas Day together instead having to go to her parents place then. The flour is because I’m trying to bake cookies,” he said. “Also how did you get in? The door was locked.”

Sirius pulled a knife from his pocket, “I used this cool knife I got. It can pick any lock just by sliding it in!”

James laughed. “You do know I would have just let you in, right?” 

“Yeah, but I wanted to give this thing a try!”

“As long as you’re here do you think you can give me a hand? I’m trying to bake cookies for Lily and I don’t know what a tbs is.”

“A tasty banana sandwich?” Sirius suggested with a shrug. “Oh or a triple bacon slider!”

“Something tells me that’s not it,” James said sighing. He should have know Sirius would just make jokes since he knew as much about baking as James did. “Maybe I’ll call Moony.”

“Alright merry Christmas!” said Sirius heading towards the door with a wave, “I still have few more people to deliver gifts to.” And with that he left. James went over to the fireplace, grabbed a handful of floo powder, and tossed it in the fire. “Remus Lupin.”

James put his head in the flames and that warm feeling that you could never quite get used to brushed against his skin as his head appeared in the fireplace of Lupin’s house.

“James? What are you doing here?” asked Remus sounding surprised. “I thought you and Lily were going to see her parents.”

“Just Lily went. Moony I need your help, what the hell is a tbs?”

“Seriously Prongs? You don’t know what a tablespoon is? The little measuring spoons.”

“Thanks Moony your a life saver! I was trying to make cookies for Lily.”

“Just try not to burn the house down cooking like you almost did last time.”

“Lily would kill me,” James said with a laugh, as he pulled his head out of the fire.

*****

After that the cookie baking went a lot better and soon they were baking in the oven. James heard the door open from the other room signaling that Lily was finally home. He immediately headed into the other room to greet her.

“Lily! How are you?” he asked enthusiastically.

“I’m doing well, but Petunia wouldn’t talk to me and she made an excuse to leave as soon as I got there! She is still going on about the whole ‘you’re a witch so you must be evil thing’. You would think she would have gotten over it by now.”

“She’ll come round eventually.”

“I hope you’re right,” she said with a sigh. Suddenly she started looking around. “What’s that smell?” A burning smell was wafting through the air. 

“Oh no!” James shrieked running back into the kitchen to grab the cookies. He pulled open the oven and pulled them out. They were burnt but they still looked somewhat edible. Great now he wouldn’t be able to give her the cookies he made. At least he could still give her the present he had bought for her and use the spell he had learned to make it snow so they could have a beautiful Christmas Eve snowfall. 

He returned to the other room where Lily was waiting for him. It was getting late so he figured now was the perfect time to try his spell.

“Were the cookies all right?” she asked.

“No they’re burnt but we might still be able to eat them,” he added hopefully.

“Maybe I’ll try one later tonight after we have dinner,” she said turning to look out the window. “It’s too bad there’s no snow.”

“Actually I have a solution to that!” James said excitedly.

“Please tell me it’s legal?” asked Lily turning to face him.

“Of course it’s legal!” 

“Alright then let’s see it.” 

He turned to the window and pointed his wand outside. “Niforas!” The effect was instant only it was not what James had planned, something did start falling from the sky only it was rain, not snow. Little droplets of water now fell from the sky splattering down on the lawn.

“Maybe you said the incantation wrong” suggested Lily. She did still look a little disappointed but she was still trying to keep a positive attitude.

“I’m sorry Lily. I was trying to do something special for you. At least you can still open my gift,” he said, trying for a smile. 

“That sounds like a plan,” she said, giving James a kiss on the cheek. She headed over to the Christmas tree with James following behind her. They got to the tree and sat down, both grabbing a package. “I actually also have a gift for you,” Lily added looking a bit nervous. She fidgeted with her necklace chain and James suddenly saw the necklace she was wearing. It had a silver chain with a silver doe charm, it was the one she had said she wanted.

“Where did you get that necklace?” he asked.

“Oh my parents gave it to me when I was at their house, why?”

“That’s what I got you,” said James, looking down at the floor. He’d gotten her the same thing as her parents. What kind of a husband did that make him? He couldn’t bake cookies, he couldn’t make it snow, and now he hadn’t even gotten her a good Christmas present. He felt a tear slide down his cheek, all he wanted was for them to have a prefect Christmas.

“James, why are you crying?” asked Lily wrapping her arms around him and pulling him into a hug.

“I ruined Christmas,” he said quietly. “I burned the cookies, made rain instead of snow, and got you the same gift as your parents.”

Lily laughed, “you didn’t ruin Christmas at all.”

“I didn’t?”

“No of course not. I didn’t marry you because of your cookie and snow making abilities, and you shouldn’t expect to be prefect at those things. It means so much that you even tried and that’s what I love about you, you try so hard at everything you do and you never fail to make me laugh,” she said whipping his tears off his face. “Also the fact that you got me that necklace shows that you listen to what I want and know me as well as my parents because you knew exactly what I wanted. Now why don’t you open your gift then we can go get dinner at the restaurant you booked reservations at.”

Lily stepped aside and picked up the little package she had retrieved from under the tree and handed it to James. He opened it not at all sure what to expect, but even with no expectations the thing inside surprised him. It was a pregnancy test and the result was positive.

The first thing he felt was joy he was going to be father, but soon he felt nervous to. Would he even be a good father? He needed to make sure his kid had a wonderful childhood and knew that his father cared about him.

“I can’t believe it,” said James, Lily looked nervous for a second as though she was still worried that he would react poorly. James squeezed her hand. “We’re going to be parents! We’re going to have a child!”

“I know,” said Lily. “And I hope that we’ll do a good job.” 

“I know that we will,” he replied, and then she kissed him. He wasn’t a fast or aggressive kiss, it was slow and sweet. Lily’s mouth fit against his perfectly and her arms wrapped around him. They pulled away after a second and James glanced out the window. The rain he’d created had started to turn to snow and they still had a dinner reservation at their favorite restaurant, but most importantly he was going to be a father. It had turned out to be the perfect Christmas after all.


End file.
